A few interesting tidbits that could be on the mind of Leafs GM Brian Burke the next few days.
On the Marek vs. Wyshynski daily podcast (which is recommended listening to hockey addicts out there), Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek indicated the Detroit Red Wings as a possible destination for pending unrestricted free agent Mikhail Grabovski if he is not signed to a contract extension by the February 27th deadline.
Marek stated that he is not sure that the Leafs “will have an appetite to pay Mikhail Grabovski $5.5 Million, which is the sort of rumored price tag” and that Burke’s normal modus operandi regarding contract negotiations is a hard line stance.
This is starting to sound like the Dominic Moore scenario of a few years ago, where a player who was playing effectively decided that he would try to hit the mother lode rather than signing for a more reasonable deal. Grabovski has been very good at times this season, but he has also pulled disappearing acts for stretches (one of which he is going through right now). If the rumored salary demand is accurate, then Grabovski will likely be playing his last week in Blue and White.
The Red Wings announced this morning that forward Pavel Datsyuk will be out a couple weeks due to arthroscopic knee surgery, which could increase their need to add another scoring forward. They have long been rumored to have interest in Edmonton’s Ales Hemsky. If the price for Hemsky is too high or he gets moved elsewhere, Detroit GM Ken Holland may use Grabovski as a fallback option.
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TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported that the price that Columbus is asking for sniper Rick Nash is a young NHL roster player, two very good prospects and a first round pick. Other reports have indicated that the Philadelphia Flyers have dropped out of the sweepstakes because the cost is too high and that New York and Los Angeles are currently the front runners for the 27 year old winger.
If you take the price reported by McKenzie as being accurate, the package the Maple Leafs would likely be either Jake Gardiner or Luke Schenn, both Nazem Kadri and Joe Colborne, along with their 2012 first round pick.
Unless a team like Los Angeles, who is in desperate need of adding scoring to make the playoffs and advance, succumbs to the pressure and strips their organization of most of their young assets, it is hard to believe that any team(Toronto included) will make that trade.
McKenzie also reported that Steve Ott of Dallas, Buffalo’s Paul Gaustad and the Avs’ Daniel Winnik are all being actively shopped to teams looking to add size and toughness for the stretch run.
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The Leafs take on the New Jersey Devils in the first of a critical four game home stand.
Jonas Gustavsson will get the start for Toronto and Carl Gunnarsson will return to the lineup, after missing three games with a sprained ankle. Joffrey Lupul will also be in the lineup in spite of being hobbled by a bruised foot, which occurred in Vancouver on Saturday night.
The Devils have climbed to fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings with their recent three game winning streak and have an impressive 18-10-1 road record.
Martin Brodeur is expected to start in goal.
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